Hi everybody,

while in Burgenland (Austria) I bought a few bottles of Gelber Muskateller.
I understand that it is an excellent apéritif - especially the fizzy
version - but what about combining the "still" version with food?

Any ideas, Michael Pronay and Co?

Thanks

Yves

"Yves" > wrote:

> while in Burgenland (Austria) I bought a few bottles of Gelber
> Muskateller. I understand that it is an excellent apéritif -
> especially the fizzy version - but what about combining the
> "still" version with food?
>
> Any ideas, Michael Pronay and Co?

Pork chops in gorngozola sauce.

Btw, haven't seen many Muskateller in fizzy version - in fact only
once, a sweetish sparkler from Szigeti in Gols.

M.

"Pork chops in gorgonzola sauce" sounds like an interesting match, Micheal.
The fizzy Gelber Muskateller I bought is made by Firmenich near Gamlitz.
Very nice mousseux, bone dry, very satisfying, harmonious stuff and -
curiously enough - it does not come with a champagne cork, but with a crown
cork (if this is the accurate English term for "Kronenkorken"). According to
Mr Firmenich, it's a way to elude the "Sektsteuer" (tax on sparkling wine),
although I had the impression that this product was "fizzier" that Italian
prosecco.

Servus + bye

Yves

"Michael Pronay" > wrote in message
...
> "Yves" > wrote:
>
>> while in Burgenland (Austria) I bought a few bottles of Gelber
>> Muskateller. I understand that it is an excellent apéritif -
>> especially the fizzy version - but what about combining the
>> "still" version with food?
>>
>> Any ideas, Michael Pronay and Co?
>
> Pork chops in gorngozola sauce.
>
> Btw, haven't seen many Muskateller in fizzy version - in fact only
> once, a sweetish sparkler from Szigeti in Gols.
>
> M.

We carry a dry Gelber Muskateller from the Tschermonegg winery in the
Styrian region of Austria, and the winemaker Erwin Tschermonegg
suggests pairing it with sausages, pat=E9, or Asian dishes.

I have also had an off-dry Muscat-Ottonel Spatlese (Muscat Ottonel is a
different grape, but both are in the Muscat family) which was served
with a kind of sweet walnut bread baked by the winemaker's grandmother,
which paired perfectly. The slightly bitter "dirtiness" of the walnuts
balanced the sweet "grapiness" of the Muscat, so I would be tempted to
try pairing it with any walnut-centric dish.

Cheers!
E=2E
_______________
www.winemonger.com

"Yves" > wrote:

> "Pork chops in gorgonzola sauce" sounds like an interesting
> match, Micheal.

It is.

> The fizzy Gelber Muskateller I bought is made by Firmenich near
> Gamlitz. Very nice mousseux, bone dry, very satisfying,
> harmonious stuff and - curiously enough - it does not come with
> a champagne cork, but with a crown cork (if this is the accurate
> English term for "Kronenkorken").

"Crown cap" would be the term.

> According to Mr Firmenich, it's a way to elude the "Sektsteuer"
> (tax on sparkling wine), although I had the impression that this
> product was "fizzier" that Italian prosecco.

Well, caution. Tax on "sparkling wine" in Austria has been
abandoned with April 1st, 2005. "Sparkling wine" by EU definition
is anything sparkling with a pressure from 3 (or 3.5?) bar
upwords.

Anything saprkling with a pressure up to 2 (or 2.5?) bar is called
"Perlwein" ("frizzante" in Italian; don't know the English term).
Perlwein was not taxed, except when it was "packaged like a
sparkling wine". This latter fact is quite curious, of course, and
I don't think this rule was applied very often.

Anything between 2 (2.5?) and 3 (3.5?) bar is completely illegal,
btw.

Anyhow: stainless steel crown caps for sparklers (both perlwein
and the "real thing") do make sense: Keeps the product fresher and
totally elminates the risk of cork taint. JFMOR: In our champagne
tasting two years ago (some 80 wines) we 16% cork problems ... :-(

M.